Search

Accurate identification of Seriola dumerili (SD) offers crucial technical support for aquaculture practices and behavioral research of this species. However, the task of discerning S. dumerili from complex underwater settings, fluctuating light conditions, and schools of fish presents a challenge. This paper proposes an intelligent recognition model based on the YOLOv8 network called SD-YOLOv8. By adding a small object detection layer and head, our model has a positive impact on the recognition capabilities for both close and distant instances of S. dumerili, significantly improving them. We construct a convenient S. dumerili dataset and introduce the deformable convolution network v2 (DCNv2) to enhance the information extraction process. Additionally, we employ the bottleneck attention module (BAM) and redesign the spatial pyramid pooling fusion (SPPF) for multidimensional feature extraction and fusion. The Inner-MPDIoU bounding box regression function adjusts the scale factor and evaluates geometric ratios to improve box positioning accuracy. The experimental results show that our SD-YOLOv8 model achieves higher accuracy and average precision, increasing from 89.2% to 93.2% and from 92.2% to 95.7%, respectively. Overall, our model enhances detection accuracy, providing a reliable foundation for the accurate detection of fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most likely alternatives to traditional vapor compression refrigeration technology, solid refrigeration technology based on the barocaloric effect (BCE) has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Spin-crossover (SCO) compounds are considered suitable for working at low driving pressures due to high-pressure sensitivity and small hysteresis width. However, the entropy change (ΔSSCO) of the SCO compound is smaller than that of other excellent barocaloric materials (plastic crystals and two-dimensional perovskites). Here, we report the BCE of the SCO compound {Fe(pz)2(BH3CN)2} (pz = pyrazine) with a smaller molar mass and a third source of entropy change besides electron and vibrational entropy changes. Compound {Fe(pz)2(BH3CN)2} exhibits high pressure sensitivity ( d T 1 / 2 d P = 20.2 K kbar−1) as well as entropy change (Δ S SCO = 202 J kg−1 K−1). The maximum values of reversible isothermal entropy change (ΔSit,rev,max) and adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad,rev,max) at 1 kbar are only 103 J kg−1 K−1 and ∼0 K, respectively, due to the hysteresis behavior. However, at sufficiently high driving pressures, ΔSit,rev,max exceeds 200 J kg−1 K−1, and ΔTad,rev,max can reach ∼47 K, which exceeds all SCO compounds reported in BCE studies and is comparable to some plastic-crystalline and two-dimensional perovskite barocaloric materials. The excellent BCE of the SCO compound {Fe(pz)2(BH3CN)2} is mainly due to its small molar mass, which makes the unit mass compound exhibit higher ΔSSCO, while the introduction of the third source of entropy change—the reorientation entropy change (ΔSreo), only plays a small role. This is expected to promote the practical application of SCO compounds as barocaloric refrigerants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Disulfidptosis is a novel type of cell death induced by disulphide stress that depends on the accumulation of cystine disulphide, causing cytotoxicity and triggering cell death. However, the direct prognostic effect and regulatory mechanism of disulfidptosis-related genes in bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) remain unclear. Methods: To explore the role of 10 disulfidptosis-related genes, the multiomic data of 10 genes were comprehensively analysed. Next, based on seven disulfidptosis-related differentially expressed genes, a novel disulfidptosis-related gene score was developed to help predict the prognosis of BLCA. Immunohistochemistry, EDU, Real-time PCR and western blot were used to verify the model. Results: Significant functional differences were found between the high- and low-risk score groups, and samples with a higher risk score were more malignant. Furthermore, the tumour exclusion and Tumour Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion scores of the high-risk score group were higher than those of the low-risk score group. The risk score was positively correlated with the expression of immune checkpoints. Drug sensitivity analyses revealed that the low-risk score group had a higher sensitivity to cisplatin, doxorubicin, docetaxel and gemcitabine than the high-risk score group. Moreover, the expression of the TM4SF1 was positively correlated with the malignancy degree of BLCA, and the proliferation ability of BLCA cells was reduced after knockdown TM4SF1. Conclusion: The present study results suggest that disulfidptosis-related genes influence the prognosis of BLCA through their involvement in immune cell infiltration. Thus, these findings indicate the role of disulfidptosis in BLCA and its potential regulatory mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eltrombopag (EPAG) can improve the efficacy of immunosuppressive therapy (IST) consisting of antithymocyte immunoglobulin (ATG) and cyclosporin in severe aplastic anemia (SAA) patients. This study explored whether patients with SAA could benefit from continuous usage of EPAG beyond 6 months. Seventy-four treatment-naive Chinese patients with SAA were administrated with rabbit ATG-based IST plus EPAG for 6 months. Patients not achieving complete remission (CR) at 6 months were treated with EPAG for another 6 months. At 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after IST, the cumulative response rates were 31%, 61%, 82% and 90%, and the cumulative CR rates were 0, 14%, 27% and 45%, respectively. The cumulative effect curve showed that 93% and 53% of all remission and CR occurred within 6 months, while 98% and 83% of all remission and CR occurred within 12 months. Thirty-seven percent of patients (11 of 30) with partial remission (PR) at 6 months continuously exposed to EPAG improved to CR within 3 (1–5) months of the extended median time. Six patients failing at 6 months continued to use EPAG. Three patients showed improved responses with an extended median time of 6 (1–6) months. The 2-year event-free survival (EFS) was better in those continuing with EPAG (89% vs. 49%, P = 0.006) for patients with PR or non-remission at 6 months. Continuous administration with EPAG could improve the hematologic response and EFS in patients without achieving CR at 6 months. This trial has been registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2100045895). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adipose tissue is essential for maintaining systemic metabolic homeostasis through traditional metabolic regulation, endocrine crosstalk, and extracellular vesicle production. Adipose dysfunction is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The heart is a traditional pump organ. However, it has recently been recognized to coordinate interorgan cross-talk by providing peripheral signals known as cardiokines. These molecules include specific peptides, proteins, microRNAs and novel extracellular vesicle-carried cargoes. Current studies have shown that generalized cardiokine-mediated adipose regulation affects systemic metabolism. Cardiokines regulate lipolysis, adipogenesis, energy expenditure, thermogenesis during cold exposure and adipokine production. Moreover, cardiokines participate in pathological processes such as obesity, diabetes and ischemic heart injury. The underlying mechanisms of the cardiac-to-adipose axis mediated by cardiokines will be further discussed to provide potential therapeutic targets for metabolic diseases and support a new perspective on the need to correct adipose dysfunction after ischemic heart injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates rhythmic jaw movement (RJM) patterns and masticatory muscle activities during electrical stimulation in two cortical masticatory areas in obese male Zucker rats (OZRs), compared to their counterparts—lean male Zucker rats (LZRs) (seven each). At the age of 10 weeks, electromyographic (EMG) activity of the right anterior digastric muscle (RAD) and masseter muscles, and RJMs were recorded during repetitive intracortical micro-stimulation in the left anterior and posterior parts of the cortical masticatory area (A-area and P-area, respectively). Only P-area-elicited RJMs, which showed a more lateral shift and slower jaw-opening pattern than A-area-elicited RJMs, were affected by obesity. During P-area stimulation, the jaw-opening duration was significantly shorter (p < 0.01) in OZRs (24.3 ms) than LZRs (27.9 ms), the jaw-opening speed was significantly faster (p < 0.05) in OZRs (67.5 mm/s) than LZRs (50.8 mm/s), and the RAD EMG duration was significantly shorter (p < 0.01) in OZRs (5.2 ms) than LZR (6.9 ms). The two groups had no significant difference in the EMG peak-to-peak amplitude and EMG frequency parameters. This study shows that obesity affects the coordinated movement of masticatory components during cortical stimulation. While other factors may be involved, functional change in digastric muscle is partly involved in the mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clothing can absorb fine particulate pollutants from the atmosphere outdoors and then release them after entering the room in a form similar to three-handed smoke. In this study, the experimental site in Zhengzhou, a typical city with heavy pollution in central China, was used to investigate the adsorption and diffusion patterns of three different fabrics of polyester, polyester-cotton, and cotton clothing for fine particle pollutants, to guide people's behavior patterns and indoor air distribution, and to reduce indoor pollution exposure. The results showed that when garments of three different fabrics were exposed to moderate and heavy PM2.5 pollution for 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h, respectively, and then transferred to the diffusion chamber, polyester always released the highest PM2.5 concentration to indoor air during the same release cycle, followed by cotton and polyester-cotton. In addition, the concentration of indoor air pollutants will be periodically affected by the diffusion of fine particulate adsorbed by clothing fabrics. With the increase in outdoor pollution and exposure duration, the indoor PM2.5 concentration takes longer to stabilize at certain levels after the clothing is transferred to the indoor side. Finally, the comparison of natural ventilation experiments proved that it is not feasible to rely solely on natural ventilation to improve the influence of clothing pollution sources on indoor air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, thermal deep drawing and thermoelectric coupling drawing tests were performed on an annealed ZK60 magnesium alloy sheet to investigate the effect of the pulse current on the formability of the ZK60 magnesium alloy during the drawing process. The effects of thermal deep drawing and the thermoelectric coupling on the forming of drawn parts were studied, and the changes of the thinning rate and hardness were obtained. The results showed that the using of pulse current improved the formability of the ZK60 magnesium alloy and increased the ultimate depth of drawing. The hardness value of the drawn part showed an overall increasing trend, followed by thermoelectric coupling deep drawing, which was significantly higher than the sheet after annealing without deep drawing. The deep-drawn parts had different grain sizes in different places, and dynamic recrystallization occurred to varying degrees in each region. Furthermore, the degree of dynamic recrystallization in the punch fillet and cylinder wall was significantly higher than in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mine tailings are stored in tailings storage facilities (TSF), normally in the form of tailings dams. High-stacked tailings dams (HTD) are failure-prone for several reasons, such as overtopping, seepage failure, and strength deterioration. The investigation of compressibility and permeability of tailings material with different particle sizes under high pressure is essential for safety stability. By self-developed high-pressure consolidation permeability apparatus (HCPA), the laboratory conjoined consolidation permeability tests are carried out on tailings with different particle sizes at the maximum consolidation pressure (σ'v) of 5 MPa. For compressibility of tailings in the high-pressure stage (σ'v > 2 MPa), the void ratio e of tailings with different particle sizes has a new linear relationship with σ'v. Coarse-grained tailings have a "secondary- compression-like property" due to particle breakage under high pressure. The hydraulic conductivity of tailings under high pressure presents a piecewise linear k-σ'v relationship. With the decrease in particle size and the increase of σ'v, the seepage pattern of tailings changes from channel seepage to micropore seepage. σ'v = 2 MPa is regarded as the critical value for high-pressure compression of tailing, and the corresponding microscopic critical value of the average particle spacing is 1.2–1.8 nm. This research explored useful information on the compressibility and permeability of tailings with different particle sizes under high pressure that can provide a reference for improving the stabilization of HTD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, three key geometrical dimensions such as XL3 (constant pressure mixing chamber length), D5 (diameter of the throat of the ejector), and XL5 (length of the throat of the ejector) were separately or sequentially optimized under different lengths and angles of two sections of the primary nozzle. Furthermore, shock cluster number and shock chain length or area of low static pressure zone were used to analyze the effect of geometries on ejector performance, which is normally indicated by entrainment ratio (ER, or the ratio between the mass flow rate of secondary flow and the mass flow rate of primary flow). The results show that: (1) the improvement of ejector performance with only optimization of the primary nozzle is quite limited, in comparison, the impact of length and angle of nozzle diverging section on ejector performance is higher than that of converging section; (2) the relative sensitivity of ER to three key dimensions is much higher than that to the angles and lengths of the primary nozzle; (3) with the increase of XL3 and D5, ER needs a larger angle and smaller length of nozzle converging section; (4) the impact of key geometries on ejector performance can be analyzed with the help of shock cluster number and shock chain length or area of low static pressure zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eltrombopag (EPAG), a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, was approved for the treatment of severe aplastic anemia (SAA) combined with immunosuppressive therapy (IST). However, the effects of real-life use of low doses of EPAG combined with rabbit antithymocyte globulin (ATG)-based IST in Asian patients with SAA are yet unknown. A total of 121 previously untreated Chinese patients with SAA were enrolled in a multicenter registry of the Chinese Eastern Collaboration Group of Anemia (2014-2020): 67 patients received IST alone and 54 patients received additional EPAG. Patients receiving IST plus EPAG had a higher overall response rate (ORR) at 1 month (P = 0.002), 3 months (P = 0.028), 6 months (P = 0.006), and 12 months (P = 0.031) compared to those receiving IST alone. EPAG was the favorable factor for response efficacy at 6 months. The complete response rate in the EPAG plus IST group was 17% at 3 months, 27% at 6 months, and 32% at 12 months, compared to 7% (P = 0.069), 14% (P = 0.11), and 33% (P = 0.92) for those treated with IST alone. The 2-year overall survival rate in EPAG plus IST and IST alone groups was 98% and 88%, respectively (P = 0.078). The rate of adverse events, including clonal evolution, infection, and transaminitis, was similar in the two cohorts. The addition of EPAG to IST was well-tolerated and associated with high rates of hematologic responses among the previously untreated Chinese patients with SAA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency noise is a key limitation factor for frequency sensitive ultra-high precision measurement. An excellent methodology for its calibration is the error signal extracting from a cavity length locking process via Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) technique, and also can be applied as a noise discriminator for active feedback control. However, the stabilized laser frequency noise performance was poor to meet the applications for ultra-high precision measurement, and no literature has analyzed the cause in detail. In this Letter, we found that various of noise floors in the in-loop sensing and modulation depth in the PDH error signal should be responsible for the poor noise performance. Meanwhile, differing from the theoretical prediction (1.08), the modulation depth in frequency noise feedback controlling should be optimized by simultaneously considering the detector's gain and saturation power, cavity impedance matching, and control loop gain. In our case, it was fixed to be 0.17. The experimental results confirm our theoretical analysis well. Finally, the stabilized laser frequency noises are reduced to 10 − 1 Hz / Hz for out-of-loop and 3 × 10 − 2 Hz / Hz for in-loop. The results demonstrate an efficient settlement solution for active frequency noise feedback control. • Optimizing modulation depth for frequency noise suppression is modelled. • Difference in frequency noise between in-loop and out-of-loop is demonstrated. • In-loop noise is observed on-line with the performance of out-of-loop. • Under optimal parameters, a minimum out-of-loop noise of 10 − 1 Hz / Hz so far is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tumor microenvironment (TME) comprises immune-infiltrating cells that are closely linked to tumor development. By screening and analyzing genes associated with tumor-infiltrating M0 cells, we developed a risk model to provide therapeutic and prognostic guidance in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). First, the infiltration abundance of each immune cell type and its correlation with patient prognosis were analyzed. After assessing the potential link between the depth of immune cell infiltration and prognosis, we screened the infiltrating M0 cells to establish a risk model centered on three key genes (TMEN174, LRRC19, and SAA1). The correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between the risk score and various stages of the tumor immune cycle, including B-cell recruitment. Furthermore, the risk score was positively correlated with CD8 expression and several popular immune checkpoints (ICs) (TIGIT, CTLA4, CD274, LAG3, and PDCD1). Additionally, the high-risk group (HRG) had higher scores for tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) and exclusion than the low-risk group (LRG). Importantly, the risk score was negatively correlated with the immunotherapy-related pathway enrichment scores, and the LRG showed a greater therapeutic benefit than the HRG. Differences in sensitivity to targeted drugs between the HRG and LRG were analyzed. For commonly used targeted drugs in RCC, including axitinib, pazopanib, temsirolimus, and sunitinib, LRG had lower IC50 values, indicating increased sensitivity. Finally, immunohistochemistry results of 66 paraffin-embedded specimens indicated that SAA1 was strongly expressed in the tumor samples and was associated with tumor metastasis, stage, and grade. SAA1 was found to have a significant pro-tumorigenic effect by experimental validation. In summary, these data confirmed that tumor-infiltrating M0 cells play a key role in the prognosis and treatment of patients with ccRCC. This discovery offers new insights and directions for the prognostic prediction and treatment of ccRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architectured materials exhibit negative Poisson's ratios and enhanced mechanical properties compared with regular materials. Their auxetic behaviors emerge from periodic cellular structures regardless of the materials used. The majority of such metamaterials are constructed by top‐down approaches and macroscopic with unit cells of microns or larger. There are also molecular auxetics including natural crystals which are not designable. There is a gap from few nanometers to microns, which may be filled by biomolecular self‐assembly. Herein, we demonstrate two‐dimensional auxetic nanostructures using DNA origami. Structural reconfigurations are performed by two‐step DNA reactions and complemented by mechanical deformation studies using molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the auxetic behaviors are mostly defined by geometrical designs, yet the properties of the materials also play an important role. From elasticity theory, we introduce design principles for auxetic DNA metamaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architectured materials exhibit negative Poisson's ratios and enhanced mechanical properties compared with regular materials. Their auxetic behaviors emerge from periodic cellular structures regardless of the materials used. The majority of such metamaterials are constructed by top‐down approaches and macroscopic with unit cells of microns or larger. There are also molecular auxetics including natural crystals which are not designable. There is a gap from few nanometers to microns, which may be filled by biomolecular self‐assembly. Herein, we demonstrate two‐dimensional auxetic nanostructures using DNA origami. Structural reconfigurations are performed by two‐step DNA reactions and complemented by mechanical deformation studies using molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the auxetic behaviors are mostly defined by geometrical designs, yet the properties of the materials also play an important role. From elasticity theory, we introduce design principles for auxetic DNA metamaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Cervical cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in developing nations. Human papillomavirus prophylactic vaccines are not widely available, and there are shortages of gynecologists and cytologists in the already overburdened health care systems. The aim of this study was to identify circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) that could be used as feasible screening tests for cervical cancer in low-resource regions. Materials and Methods: Serum expression levels of five miRNAs were measured and validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) patients, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia patients, and healthy individuals. Squamous cell carcinoma-related antigen (SCC-Ag) was also measured in the serum. Results: Serum miR-638, miR-203a-3p, miR-1914-5p, and miR-521 levels were downregulated in the CSCC group (p < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis indicated that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) values for miR-638 and miR-521 were 0.734 and 0.742, respectively, for discriminating CSCC patients from healthy controls. Furthermore, the combined use of miR-638 and SCC-Ag yielded the best screening performance and increased the AUC value, sensitivity, and specificity to 0.956, 94.87%, and 80.00%, respectively. Conclusion: This study suggested that miR-638 and miR-521 have independent screening value and that the combined measurement of miR-638 and SCC-Ag resulted in a better ability to discriminate patients with CSCC from healthy individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract To investigate the effect and mechanism of chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) on the germination and seedling growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), we conducted systematic research on the impact of different concentrations (1–100 μg/mL) of CSNPs and chitosan (CS). The result of energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) showed that adsorption of CSNPs on the surface of wheat seeds was higher than that of CS. CSNPs had growth promoting effect at a lower concentration (5 μg/mL) compared with CS (50 μg/mL). In addition, the application of 5 μg/mL CSNPs induced the auxin-related gene expression, accelerated indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis and transport, and reduced IAA oxidase activity resulting in the increase of IAA concentration in wheat shoots and roots. The results suggest that CSNPs have positive effect on seed germination and seedling growth of wheat at a lower concentration than CS due to higher adsorption on the surface of wheat seeds. Highlights • CSNPs could promote growth at a lower concentration about 10 fold than CS. • CSNPs promote wheat growth by activating IAA signaling pathway. • The CSNPs adsorption is stronger than that of CS on the surface of wheat seed by EDS and CLSM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Insulin-responsive glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), a member of the glucose transporter family, plays a vital role in mediating glucose movement across cell membranes in insulin-sensitive tissues. In this study, we aimed to compare the molecular characterization and expression analysis of GLUT4 from three fish species of different feeding habits: golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus), cobia (Rachycentron canadum) and tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) after being fed three different dietary carbohydrate-to-lipid (CHO:L) ratios for 8 weeks. The results showed that the full length of golden pompano GLUT4 (ToGLUT4) and cobia GLUT4 (RcGLUT4) gene cDNA are 1973 and 2241 bp, containing an open reading frame (ORF) encoding 506 and 507 amino acids, respectively. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of GLUT4 revealed a high degree of conservation among most fish and higher vertebrates, and high homology were found in GLUT4 of golden pompano, cobia and tilapia, which share several identical motifs but contain small substitutions in GLUT4 protein. In addition, the highest GLUT4 gene expression was observed in white muscle followed by heart in these three fish species. Furthermore, in all these three species, the expression of GLUT4 was regulated in heart and white muscle by dietary CHO:L ratios. Expression of GLUT4 in heart decreased when golden pompano and tilapia were fed medium or high CHO:L ratio diets. However, in cobia, GLUT4 was induced when fed medium CHO:L ratio diet but depressed when fed high CHO:L ratio diet. With respect to white muscle, high expression of GLUT4 was found in these three fish species when fed medium CHO:L ratio diet, and high CHO:L ratio diet intake depressed its abundance in white muscle. The results indicate that GLUT4 of golden pompano, cobia and tilapia share several functionally important structural characteristics but contain small substitutions in GLUT4 protein that may lead to differences in the traffic behavior and affect the efficiency of glucose transport. In accordance with mammalian expression pattern, GLUT4 of golden pompano, cobia and tilapia are all expressed primarily in heart and white muscle, which could be regulated by dietary CHO:L ratios but appear to be species-specific and tissue-specific. However, none of the parameters examined clarifies the differences in carbohydrate utilization between carnivorous (golden pompano, cobia) and omnivorous (tilapia) fish. Decreased GLUT4 mRNA in heart and white muscle caused by feeding a relatively high carbohydrate with low lipid diet might partially explain the poor utilization of carbohydrate in these three fish species. Highlights • Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of GLUT4 revealed a high degree of conservation among most fish and higher vertebrates. • Heart and white muscle GLUT4 of golden pompano, cobia and tilapia are regulated by dietary carbohydrate-to-lipid ratios. • Decreased GLUT4 mRNA in heart and white muscle after a carbohydrate rich diet could be a partial explanation for the poor utilization of carbohydrate in these three fish species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Here we report an Au nanoparticles supported on nanostructured porous carbon (NPCs) hybrid through a coordination-assisted strategy. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been demonstrated as suitable precursors for preparing NPCs through the impregnation of a secondary carbon source within pores of MOFs. The thermal transformation of Au/UiO-66-NH 2 composites in an inert atmosphere has yielded ultrafine Au-embedded NPCs (Au/NPCs). The formation of these composite materials was verified by a comprehensive characterization using X-ray diffraction, N 2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Because of the unique structural properties and synergetic catalytic effect, Au/NPCs can be developed as an effective sensing platform for the detection of acetaminophen (AP), which showed high activity and excellent analytical performance towards AP, such as a wide linear range of 0.12–95.10 μM, a high sensitivity of 357.62 μA mM−1, and a low limit of detection of 49.4 nM. Importantly, the successfully fabricated Au/NPCs device accurately measured the amount of AP in pharmaceutical samples. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • The Au/NPCs hybrids were prepared by a simple one-step pyrolysis of UiO-66 particles. • It was prepared by using UiO-66 as template and the MOFs also act as carbon sources without need of additional precursors. • A sensitive biosensor for AP was developed based on the Au/NPCs–GCE, which showed good electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let Λ be an algebra of finite Cohen-Macaulay type and Γ its Cohen-Macaulay Auslander algebra. We are going to characterize the morphism category Mor(Λ-Gproj) of Gorenstein-projective Λ-modules in terms of the module category Γ-mod by a categorical equivalence. Based on this, we obtain that some factor category of the epimorphism category Epi(Λ-Gproj) is a Frobenius category, and also, we clarify the relations among Mor(Λ-Gproj), Mor(T2Λ-Gproj) and Mor(Λ-Gproj), where T2(Λ) and Δ are respectively the lower triangular matrix algebra and the Morita ring closely related to Λ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Although maternity care in developed countries is safe, fear of childbirth is a common problem. There is limited research in this area on nulliparous and multiparous women. The aim of this study was to compare fear of childbirth, its risk factors and birth outcomes between Australian nulliparous and multiparous women. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 141 nulliparous women and 212 multiparous women were recruited from antenatal clinics. Data were collected using standardised questionnaires and analysed. Results: A third of nulliparous (33%) and multiparous women (31%) feared childbirth. Nulliparous women with high–severe fear were more likely to have a lower family income, attend antenatal education classes, undergo assisted conception and report higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress. They also had greater odds of prelabour cervical ripening, oxytocin for induction or augmentation of labour, instrumental birth, episiotomy and greater volume of blood loss during birth than multiparous women. Conclusions: To empower and support women with fear of childbirth, their unique needs must be recognised. A assistance in coping with fear and anxiety must be made available to contribute to a positive pregnancy experience and birth outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we test the hypothesis that the ability of Ctenopharyngodon idellu to clear a glucose load is related to nutrient history of different dietary carbohydrate through the transport and glycolysis of glucose. Firstly, we obtained the complete coding sequence from C. idellus GLUT1 (ciGLUT1), composed by 2364 bp with an open reading frame of 1473 bp encoding 490 amino acids. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis revealed a high degree of conservation (80–97%) among most fish and higher vertebrates. The analysis of the 5′ and 3′ UTRs showed the presence of several post-transcriptional regulatory elements. The highest ciGLUT1 expression was observed in the heart followed by brain, whereas relatively low values were detected in the muscle, gill, intestine, kidney, spleen and liver. Then, hepatic and intestine ciGLUT1 expressions and hepatic glycolytic enzymes activities were determined in fish subjected to a glucose load after being fed different dietary carbohydrate levels (20%, 40% and 60%) for 8 weeks. And the result showed that different dietary carbohydrate had no effect on ciGLUT1 mRNA of hepatic and intestine after 8 weeks trail. However, after the adaptation of carbohydrate levels, glucose administration caused a prompt increase of hepatic ciGLUT1 mRNA expressions in all treatments whereas it either had no effect or a negative effect on intestine ciGLUT1 mRNA. In terms of dietary carbohydrate levels, the ciGLUT1 expressions of fish fed high carbohydrate diet (60%) were significantly higher than the other groups after the glucose load. In additon, after the glucose administration, hepatic low Km hexokinases (HK) activities of fish fed high carbohydrate diets increased significantly and was also significantly higher than the other groups. The results indicated that the GLUT1 gene of C. idellus showed a typical structure of the glucose transporters family, supporting the concept that ciGLUT1 functions as a ubiquitous and constitutive basal level glucose transporter. Consistent with the function of the GLUT1 as a constitutive glucose transporter, ciGLUT1 expressions of hepatic and intestine were hardly affected by the changes in dietary carbohydrate. Furthermore, after the glucose load, the fish after a long-term high dietary carbohydrate adaptation showed a more efficient clearance of glucose through the more remarkable enhancements of hepatic ciGLUT1 expressions and HK activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, two types of scaffolds were fabricated by 3D printing. Morphology, physical properties, biochemical were evaluated. Cell morphology and distribution were observed. It was found that the silk fibroin/collagen (SF/C) scaffold-based material had significantly higher values than the silk fibroin/chitosan (SF/CS) scaffold-based material. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of the scaffolds revealed that the number of cells in the SF/C scaffold was higher. Cells grew well inside the SF/C scaffold as measured by scanning electron microscope. Reverse Transcriotion-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot showed that type II collagen and Sox9 can be found in SF/C scaffold. Therefore, the SF/C scaffold exhibited better overall performance compared with the SF/CS scaffold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce the Gorenstein algebraic K-theory space and the Gorenstein algebraic K-group of a ring, and show the relation with the classical algebraic K-theory space, and also show the 'resolution theorem' in this context due to Quillen. We characterize the Gorenstein algebraic K-groups by two different algebraic K-groups and by the idempotent completeness of the Gorenstein singularity category of the ring. We compute the Gorenstein algebraic K-groups along a recollement of the bounded Gorenstein derived categories of CM-nite Gorenstein algebras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction to: A real-world experience of eltrombopag plus rabbit antithymocyte immunoglobulin-based IST in Chinese patients with severe aplastic anemia The correct article title should be "A real-world experience of eltrombopag plus rabbit -antithymocyte immunoglobulin-based IST in Chinese patients with severe aplastic anemia". The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-022-04966-w B Correction to: Annals of Hematology b https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-022-04966-w The article "A real-word experience of eltrombopag plus rabbit -antithymocyte immunoglobulin-based IST in Chinese patients with severe aplastic anemia" was published with a mistake in the title. [Extracted from the article]

A redox-responsive supramolecular hydrogel system was developed for delivering 10-hydroxy camptothecin (HCPT). The hydrogel was formed by cleaving disulfide bond. The combination of hydrophobic HCPT with hydrogel was a simple and effective way to improve the solubility of HCPT and the drug loading capacity of delivery system. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image revealed the self-assembled hydrogel was long and thin nanofibers with a width of < 10 nm. Rheological test verified the hydrogel had fine physical properties. In vitro release experiment showed that the accumulative releasing percentages within 72 h of HCPT-peptide hydrogels at 3.0%, 4.0%, 5.0% were 16.8%, 21.3%, and 26.8% respectively, which indicated the HCPT-peptide hydrogels had a significantly sustained-release characteristic. Besides, in vitro anticancer assay showed that HCPT-peptide hydrogels possessed a favorable anticancer efficacy. These results indicated that HCPT-peptide hydrogel had great potential for cancer treatment as a novel injectable drug delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper systematically investigates the luminous properties and thermal reliability of phosphor-in-glass (PiG)-based white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). The PiG was prepared by introducing yellow YAG:Ce3+ phosphor embedded with borosilicate glass through screen-printing and low-temperature sintering. The effects of sintering temperature, phosphor content, and phosphor layer thickness were studied, and then the optimized PiG was achieved. This PiG-based WLED module yields a luminous efficacy (LE) of 114 lm/W, a correlated color temperature of 5524 K, and a color rendering index of 69 at the driving current of 700 mA. Furthermore, after thermal aging test at 200 °C for 500 h, the photoluminescence intensity of PiG is only reduced by 4.3%, which is much lower than the conventional phosphor-in-silicone (PiS) of 26.2%. The LE losses of PiG-based and PiS-based WLED modules are 4.2% and 12.1% after thermal aging of 1000 h at 100 °C, respectively. The aging results show that the proposed PiG exhibits superior thermal stability characteristic, which promises the excellent thermal reliability for PiG-based WLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the luminous properties of high-power white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs), we proposed a facile preparation of patterned phosphor-in-glass (PiG) in which yellow Y 3 Al 5 O 12 :Ce 3+ (YAG:Ce 3+ ) and red CaAlSiN 3 :Eu 2+ (CASN:Eu 2+ ) phosphor parts are separated. The patterned PiGs with sector piece and concentric ring phosphor geometries were prepared by screen-printing and low-temperature sintering. Experimental results indicated that LED modules packaged by the patterned PiGs yield high luminous efficacy and excellent color quality owing to the reducing reabsorption of yellow emission by red phosphor. In addition, the angular color uniformity (ACU) of LED modules with the ring patterned PiGs are better than those of LED modules with the piece patterned PiGs. It is also discovered that the luminous efficacy and corresponding correlated color temperature (CCT) of LED module packaged by the piece/ring patterned PiG are decreased with the increasing of piece/ring number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The responses of DNA origami conformation to UV radiation of different wavelengths and doses are investigated. Short- and medium-wavelength UV light can cause photo-lesions in DNA origami. At moderate doses, the lesions do not cause any visible defects in the origami, nor do they significantly affect the hybridization capability. Instead, they help relieve the internal stress in the origami structure and restore it to the designed conformation. At high doses, staple dissociation increases which causes structural disintegration. Long-wavelength UV does not show any effect on origami conformation by itself. We show that this UV range can be used in conjunction with photoactive molecules for photo-reconfiguration, while avoiding any damage to the DNA structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the performances of different preparation methods of the scaffolds were analyzed for chondrocyte tissue engineering. Silk fibroin/collagen (SF/C) was fabricated using a vacuum freeze-dried technique and by 3D printing. The porosity, water absorption expansion rates, mechanical properties, and pore sizes of the resulting materials were evaluated. The proliferation and metabolism of the cells was detected at different time points using an MTT assay. Cell morphologies and distributions were observed by histological analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The porosity, water absorption expansion rate, and Young’s modulus of the material obtained via 3D printing were significantly higher than those obtained by the freeze-dried method, while the pore size did not differ significantly between the two methods. MTT assay results showed that the metabolism of cells seeded on the 3D printed scaffolds was more viable than the metabolism on the freeze-dried material. H&E staining of the scaffolds revealed that the number of cells in the 3D printed scaffold was higher in comparison to a similar measurement on the freeze-dried material. Consequently, stem cells grew well inside the 3D printed scaffolds, as measured by SEM, while the internal structure of the freeze-dried scaffold was disordered. Compared with the freeze-dried technique, the 3D printed scaffold exhibited better overall performance and was more suitable for cartilage tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Classical phase noise is the main limited factor for phase sensitive precision measurement. • Mode cleaner plays a low-pass filtering role not only for amplitude quadrature but also for phase one. • The noise suppression process for one quadrature noise is accomplished by a noise intercoupling between the two quadratures. • A complete experimental scheme for a full phase to amplitude noise conversion has been designed for phase noise characterization. Suppression phase noise of a laser is a great practical significance in applications of phase-sensitive precision measurement. To suppress the phase noise, an ultra-stable cavity incorporating with an electrical feedback control loop is always the popular choice, in which the linewidth of the cavity should be narrower than that of the laser to provide a stable reference standard. Here, we experimentally verify that mode cleaner plays a noise suppression role for phase quadrature in the whole frequency range of the photoelectric detectors, even though its linewidth is 10 3 larger than the laser one. Meanwhile, we found that the noise suppression for one quadrature is codetermined by the noise of the two quadratures of the input field. Our demonstration provides a new and in-depth interpretation for phase noise suppression in a mode cleaner with larger linewidth than the laser one that is important in phase-sensitive sensing application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the process of bone defective reparation and engineered bone tissue construction, osteoblasts are adhered to the surface of the scaffold materials and impart the external mechanical load to the osteoblasts. So, the dynamic mechanical property of the scaffolds play an important role in the bone tissue repair and it is valuable to research. Material type and the architectural design of scaffolds are also important to facilitate cell and tissue growth. The aim of this study was to prepare a kind of material with good pore connectivity and analyze its dynamic mechanical property.Methods: Fabrication and characterization of micro-hydroxyapatite(m-HA)/chitosan(CS) polymer composite scaffolds with well interconnected spherical pore architectures were reports. Micro-HA was prepared by being calcined and ball milled. Paraffin spheres in the range of 160-330 µm were fabricated with a dispersion method and used as the porogen in the fabrication of the scaffolds. Polymer scaffolds were fabricated by the technique of compression molding and particulate leaching method. The effects of the porogen content on the properties of the scaffolds were studied.Results: With the increase of porogen, the pore of the scaffolds increased and became interconnected. Cyclic loading of three scaffolds were tested with 10 % strain under four levels of loading frequency, 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 Hz. The porous composite scaffolds exhibited a viscosity-elastic behaviour with a maximum stress of 3-4 kPa. At each frequency, modulus value is decreased with the paraffin microspheres content, but there was no significance difference in the peak stress of the three samples. All the samples tested displayed clear hysteresis loops. There was no significance difference in the peak hysteresis of the three samples, and the hysteresis difference values between the sixth compression cycle and the initial cycle for three samples was similar, with no statistically significant differences.Conclusions: Micro-HA/CS composite scaffolds with interconnected spherical macropores were fabricated using pherical paraffin as porogen. The porous composite scaffolds exhibited a viscosity-elastic behaviour with good repeatability. It is benefit to study the influence of the mechanical load on the cell of the scaffold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One characteristic of tumor-associated CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) is the high expression of tumor necrosis factor receptor type II (TNFR2), a receptor that mediates the decisive effect of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the activation and expansion of Tregs. There is increasing evidence that inhibition of TNFR2 can enhance anti-tumor immune responses. Therefore, we screened Chinese herbal extracts for their capacity to block TNF-TNFR2 interaction. The results showed that the treatment with a Chinese herb extract could inhibit TNFR2-induced biological responses in vitro , including the proliferation of TNFR2+ Tregs. Our subsequent study led to the identification of flavonoid compound scutellarin was responsible for the activity. Our results showed that scutellarin is able to disrupt the interaction of TNF-TNFR2 and inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, a down-stream signaling component of TNFR2. Importantly, in vivo scutellarin treatment markedly enhanced the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy with CpG oligodeoxynucleotide in mouse CT26 colon cancer model. This effect of scutellarin was associated with the reduction of the number of tumor-infiltrating TNFR2-expressing Tregs and increased tumor infiltration of interferon-γ–producing CD8+ T cells. Our result also suggests that scutellarin or its analogs may be used as an adjuvant to enhance the anti-tumor effect of immunotherapeutic agent by eliminating TNFR2+ Treg activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

10-Hydroxy camptothecin ( HCPT) has been proven to be a cell cycle-specific chemotherapeutic agent, which is a necessary choice to inhibit tumor residue growth and prevent tumor metastasis after surgery. But it suffers from light decomposition, poor solubility, relatively low bioavailability, and some side effects, which are the major obstacles toward its clinical use. Integration of hydrophobic HCPT with hydrophilic hydrogel is a facile approach to change the disadvantageous situation of HCPT. In this study, a novel supramolecular hydrogelator with improved synthetic strategy was triggered by chemical hydrolysis, and then self-assembled to hydrogel. Taking advantage of the high-equilibrium solubility of HCPT in hydrogelator solution, this hydrogel was utilized to load HCPT via encapsulation as an effective carrier. HCPT hydrogels were characterized by several techniques including transmission electronic microscopy, rheology, and UV spectroscopy. In vitro release experiment indicated HCPT hydrogel could maintain long term and sustained release of HCPT at high accumulated rate. 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay showed that HCPT hydrogel had an optimized anticancer efficacy. Besides, with prominent physical properties of carrier, HCPT hydrogel possessed satisfactory stability, syringeability, and recoverability, demonstrating itself as a potential localized injectable drug delivery system. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 104:2266-2275, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study demonstrates a new electrochemical microbiosensor for selective in vivo monitoring of glucose in rat brains. The microbiosensor is prepared by using Prussian blue (PB)/polyaniline (PANI)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as the electrocatalyst for the reduction and determination of H2O2 generated from the glucose oxidase (GOx)-based enzymatic catalytic reaction. PANI and MWNTs are used to stabilize PB nanoparticles in physiological solutions. As a result, the as-formed three-dimensional (3D) PB/PANI/MWNT nanostructure exhibits a stable and large electrochemical response compared to the PB-modified electrode. The use of PB/PANI/MWNTs in this work to replace “natural peroxidase” (i.e., horseradish peroxidase) used in the existing microbiosensors enables the method developed here to be facile but selective for in vivo measurements of glucose virtually interference-free from ascorbic acid and other electroactive species coexisting in the brain. This property, along with the good linearity and stability toward glucose, makes this microbiosensor competent for continuous in vivo monitoring of the changes of glucose in rat brains during intraperitoneal injection of insulin. The method demonstrated here can be applied to develop other oxidase-based microbiosensors for other neurochemicals, which would be helpful for understanding the chemical process involved in some physiological and pathological events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is the most common congenital variant of the lateral meniscus, which is prone to degeneration and lesions, and often leads to knee osteoarthritis. At present, there is no consensus on the clinical practice of DLM, and this expert consensus and practice guidelines on DLM was developed and approved by Chinese Society of Sports Medicine according to the Delphi method. Among 32 statements drafted, 14 statements were excluded for redundant information, and 18 statements achieved consensus. This expert consensus focused on the definition, epidemiology, etiology, classification, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and rehabilitation of DLM. Restoring the normal shape, retaining appropriate width and thickness, and ensuring the stability of the remnant meniscus is critical to sustaining the physiological function of the meniscus and preserving the knee. The partial meniscectomy with or without repair should be the first‐line treatment when possible, given that the clinical and radiological long‐term outcomes of total or subtotal meniscectomy are worse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to report the drug delivery system that can integrate the functional building blocks for optical pH-sensing, cancer cell imaging and controlled drug release into a single nanoparticle. The CD/SAHA-QDs-CS/FA nanoparticles were prepared by in-situ immobilization of ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) in β-cyclodextrin (CD) and chitosan (CS) polymer loaded with suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA). Synthetic CD/SAHA-QDs-CS/FA nanoparticles were approximately 100 nm in size and with blue fluorescence. The drug encapsulation efficiency of nanoparticles was 22.36 % and the encapsulated drug was released via a controlled release mechanism after a 9 h plateau was reached. The efficiency of the drug release in tumor microenvironments (pH 5.3 buffer solutions) was higher than that in physiological pH 7.4. In vitro cytotoxicity assay results showed that the blank nanoparticles had no cytotoxicity and therefore can be used as the fluorescence tracer, and the SAHA-encapsulated nanoparticles expressed an anticancer effect. Confocal microscopy and in vivo imaging studies showed that the developed nanoparticles had cytotoxicity in resistant cancer cells and preferentially accumulated in tumors. CD/SAHA-QDs-CS/FA nanoparticles with excellent long-term optical properties have great prospects for the development of targeting tracers and anti-tumor biomedical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we employ the certain theory of Lie symmetry analysis to discuss the time-fractional Gardner equation with time-dependent coefficients. The Lie point symmetry is applied to realize the symmetry reduction of the equation, and then the power series solutions in some specific cases are obtained. By virtue of the fractional conservation theorem, the conservation laws are constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive study comprising physical measurements and human subject experiments was conducted to explore the potential for improving occupants’ thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) using a personalized ventilation (PV) system combined with an under-floor air distribution(UFAD) system. The integrated PV-UFAD system, when operated at relatively high temperature of the air supplied from the UFAD system, provided comfortable cooling of the facial region, improved inhaled air quality, and decreased the risk of “cold feet,” which is often reported in rooms with UFAD alone. This article explores associations between the physical measurements and human responses in a room served with a PV-UFAD system. The experiments were conducted in a field environmental chamber served by two dedicated systems—a primary air-handling unit (AHU) for 100% outdoor air that is supplied through the PV air terminal devices and a secondary AHU for 100% recirculated air that is supplied through UFAD outlets. Velocity and temperature distribution in the chamber were measured. A breathing thermal manikin was used to measure the heat loss from 26 body segments and to determine the equivalent temperature. The responses of 30 human subjects were collected. The experiments were performed at various combinations of room air and PV air temperatures. The results reveal improved overall thermal sensation and decrease of cold feet complaints, as well as improved inhaled air quality (including perceived air quality) with PV-UFAD in comparison with the reference case of UFAD alone or mixing ventilation with a ceiling supply diffuser. Increase of predicted draft rating with the decrease of the local thermal sensation at the feet was identified. The manikin-based equivalent temperature determined for the face was positively correlated with thermal sensation at the face region. The measured inhaled air quality indices (personalized exposure effectiveness and personalized exposure index) were improved by decreasing PV supply air temperature. The perceived inhaled air freshness increased with the decrease of the inhaled air temperature and increase of facial velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale water infrastructure such as immersed tunnels remain in a seawater environment for a long time, and gradually deteriorate under the action of high water head, soil pressure and corrosive ions in seawater solution. In order to simulate the corrosion damage and deterioration of concrete in seawater environment, 10% Na2SO4 solution was used to conduct indoor corrosion tests on concrete samples under different water heads and for different durations. The corrosion damage and micro-mechanical properties of concrete under the coupled action of high water head and sulfate are studied by micro-indentation tests. The effect of sulfate ion corrosion and complex mechanical loading was studied. The effect of micro-mechanical properties of concrete is studied on time and space. Numerical simulation and test results show that the results of micro-indentation are in good agreement with the fitting curves. The chemical damage rate and the corrosion depth increase with the increase of water head; the numerical simulation analysis shows that the sulfate concentration is high in the area where the mechanical damage variable is large, which indicates that the two kinds of corrosion occur in concrete and interact with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging phase change materials (PCMs) have attracted much attention due to their unique properties and applications. However, the optical properties of PCM at high pressures have not been well explored. In this work, the microstructure and optical properties of GeTe and Sn-substituted GeTe at high pressures up to 30 GPa have been systematically investigated. We find that the substitution of small amounts of Sn for Ge combined with the introduction of high pressure can induce an optical contrast of 117% in crystalline GeTe, which is even higher than the highest optical contrast reported so far (90%) caused by amorphous GeTe to crystalline GeTe. The pressure-induced contrast does not originate from any phase transition as previously, but from the combined effect of Peierls distortion elimination and Ge vacancy formation, which leads to an increase in carrier concentration. The relationship between pressure/atomic composition, Peierls distortion/vacancy formation, and optical contrast can be well explained by a combination of experiments and theoretical calculations. Therefore, this study reveals the effect of high pressure on the optical properties of PCMs and provides new ideas for the design of high-optical-contrast PCMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-wall microenvironment of a building refers to parameters such as wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation near the building's façade, etc. The distribution of these parameters on the building façade shows a certain variation based on changes in height. As a technology of passive heating and ventilation, the effectiveness of this application on heat collection wall is significantly affected by the near-wall microclimate, which is manifested by the differences, and rules of the thermal process of the components present at different elevations. To explore the feasibility and specificity of this application of heat collection wall in high-rise buildings, this study uses three typical high-rise buildings from Zhengzhou, China, as research buildings. Periodic measurements of the near-wall microclimate during winter and summer were carried out, and the changing rules of vertical and horizontal microclimate were discussed in detail. Later, by combining these measured data with numerical method, thermal process and performance of heat collection wall based on increasing altitude were quantitatively analyzed through numerical calculations, and the optimum scheme for heat collection wall components was summarized to provide a theoretical basis for the structural design of heat-collecting wall in high-rise buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficacies of pembrolizumab and nivolumab have never been directly compared in a real-world study. Therefore, we sought to retrospectively evaluate the objective response rate (ORR) and the progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with recurrent or advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a real-world setting. This study included patients with recurrent or advanced NSCLC diagnosed between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2019, who were treated with programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors at the Cancer Center of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. PFS was estimated for each treatment group using Kaplan–Meier curves and log-rank tests. The multivariate analysis of PFS was performed with Cox proportional hazards regression models. A total of 255 patients with advanced or recurrent NSCLC treated with PD-1 inhibitors were identified. The ORR was significantly higher in the pembrolizumab group than in the nivolumab group, while PFS was not significantly different between the two groups. Subgroup analysis showed that the ORR was significantly higher for pembrolizumab than for nivolumab in patients in the first-line therapy subgroup and in those in the combination therapy as first-line therapy subgroup. Survival analysis of patients receiving combination therapy as second- or further-line therapy showed that nivolumab had better efficacy than pembrolizumab. However, the multivariate analysis revealed no significant difference in PFS between patients treated with pembrolizumab and those treated with nivolumab regardless of the subgroup. In our study, no significant difference in PFS was noted between patients treated with pembrolizumab and those treated with nivolumab in various clinical settings. This supports the current practice of choosing either pembrolizumab or nivolumab based on patient preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Electrospinning and subsequent phosphating process can be used to synthesize MNiP (M = Mo, Cu) hybrid nanowires. • MoNiP (CuNiP) hybrid NWs was superior to that of MoP (Cu 3 P) NWs and Ni 2 P NWs. • The enhanced effects of HER mainly owed to the optimized ΔG H in hybrid nanowires. In this paper, MNiP (M = Mo, Cu) hybrid nanostructures with one-dimensional morphology were successfully synthesized by an electrospinning and subsequent phosphorization process. The as-synthesized MoNiP and CuNiP hybrid NWs were highly efficient electrocatalyst for HER. Compared with pure MoP (Cu 3 P) and Ni 2 P NWs, the MoNiP (CuNiP) hybrid NWs exhibited an enhanced HER performance which delivered a low potential of 179 mV (161 mV) at 10 mA/cm2 and a small Tafel slope of 60 mV/dec (65 mV/dec). Meanwhile, the as-synthesized hybrid NWs also showed a good stability. It might be a potential alternative to the noble metal electrocatalysts in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium alginate (CaAlg) submicroparticles have a potential application in agricultural delivery systems. This study investigated the effects of CaAlg submicroparticles on seed germination and seedling growth of wheat. CaAlg submicroparticles with a Z-average diameter of around 250.4 nm and a measured zeta potential value of about −25.4 mV were prepared and characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). After this, the effects of the concentration of CaAlg submicroparticles (10–500 μg/mL) on germination percentage, seedling length, the number of adventitious roots, chlorophyll content and soluble protein content were evaluated. The results demonstrated a significant increase in the level of germination percentage (9.0%), seedling index (50.3%), adventitious roots (27.5%), seedling length (17.0%), chlorophyll (8.7%) and soluble protein contents (4.5%) at a concentration of 100 μg/mL. However, an inhibitory effect was observed at a concentration of 500 μg/mL. The SEM examination showed that CaAlg submicroparticles could be successfully adsorbed onto the surface of the wheat seed. Further studies proved that CaAlg submicroparticles at a concentration of 100 μg/mL promoted the expression of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)-related genes (YUCCA9, AUX1, ARF and UGT) in wheat, which resulted in an increase of 69% and 21% in IAA concentration in wheat roots and shoots, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a continuous variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) system, strong Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen entangled states can significantly boost the robustness and distance for secure communication. However, an inevitable bias of two entanglement quadratures may degrade the secret key rate and distance during random quadrature base switching. The bias originates from several interdependent factors in the generation, propagation, and detection of entangled states, which faces a challenge to be completely eliminated. Here, we analyze in detail the origin of the bias effect and report on a scheme of generating unbiased entangled states, whereby a − 10.7 ± 0.1 dB quadrature noise unbiased entanglement is first generated experimentally with two single-mode squeezed states. The unbiased quadrature correlations within the measurement bandwidth are expected to immensely enhance the key rate and secure distance for CV-QKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Constructing donor–acceptor structures in polymeric carbon nitride (CN) provides an attractive pathway for facilitating charge carrier separation in photocatalytic reactions. However, achieving the implantation of donor or acceptor moieties at molecule level precision remains challenging. Here we develop a three-dimensional (3D) porous thiophene implanted carbon nitride (TCN) with donor–acceptor structure via a supramolecular assembly strategy. The specific-designed triazine derivatives with similar hydrogen bonding sites allow for the uniform introduction of thiophene groups at molecule level precision during the supramolecular assemble stage. The electron-donating thiophene groups in TCN can continuously tune electronic band structure, expand visible light absorption range, and promote charge carriers' separation. The optimized properties enable TCN-3 an outstanding H 2 evolution rate of 5620 μmol h−1 g−1, greatly exceeding bulk CN (95 μmol h−1 g−1). Briefly, our work may offer opportunities to prepare highly active photocatalysts with molecule level precise donor–acceptor structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic core–shell Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by sol–gel method. Based on the characterization and experimental results, the adsorbent was found to have an average particle size of approximately 120 nm, a pore size range of 2–5 nm and superparamagnetic properties. It exhibited electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions during adsorption of methyl orange (MO). The adsorption of MO on the magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles exhibited pseudo-second-order kinetics, the adsorption process is a spontaneous endothermic adsorption process, which conforms to the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. he maximum amount of MO was adsorbed at pH = 2, T = 45 °C and t = 30 min, and the highest adsorption capacity was 182.503 mg/g; The unit adsorption capacity of the Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles still reached 83% of the original capacity after 5 cycles, so the material was reusable and met the requirements of environmental protection. This study reveals the great potential of magnetic mesoporous nanoparticles for removal of dyes from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracerebral hemorrhage is a life-threatening acute cerebrovascular disease characterized by a 30-d mortality rate of 40% and substantial disability for those who survive. The objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility of histotripsy-mediated efficient and fine liquefaction of large-volume hematoma by utilizing a protocol of millisecond-length ultrasound pulse groups combined with fundamental and second harmonic superposition. Experiments were initially performed in an in vitro hematoma phantom, using a two-element confocal-annular array. Results showed that a single ellipsoid shape, histotripsy lesion with major dimensions of 10.8 ± 1.2 mm axially and 4.8 ± 0.2 mm laterally was successfully generated. Controllability of the lesion shape and size could be realized by modulating treatment parameters in single-spot experiments. Large-volume hematomas were efficiently and finely liquefied through multisonications via a treatment strategy under the relatively optimized treatment parameters. Liquefied contents were evacuated and analyzed using a particle sizing system. The size of the lysates for the most part ranged from 4-8 μm, with more than 99% of them being smaller than 10 μm. Experiments were then conducted in an optically transparent tissue phantom to explore the liquefaction mechanisms. The phantom was composed of polyacrylamide hydrogel, embedded with bovine serum albumin (BSA), and a thin phantom layer consisted of red blood cells in the BSA polyacrylamide gel was inlayed in the BSA gel phantom. The related mechanisms, such as the frequent boiling that occurred at multiple positions and the enhanced cavitation, revealed the quick development of the lesion in the phantom and the efficient liquefaction of the clot. These results indicated that the proposed histotripsy approach is feasible for the efficient, precise and fine liquefaction of large-volume hematoma and may be developed as a useful tool for intracerebral hemorrhage treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]